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Guglielmetti, 66, who led Troop 76 in Simsbury, Conn., for a dozen years until 2005, said leaders and members of his troop ignored the national organization's prohibition on gays as scouts or leaders because they felt it was wrong.

"It's about time," he said Monday.

Despite the national policies set forth by BSA, his troop always rejected the policy, Guglielmetti said.

"We had a bunch of boys in our troop who were gay, and they all felt the policy was wrong," he said. "Gay Scouts and everybody was always welcome in our troop."

One of those Scouts was Guglielmetti's own son, Matthew, now 34. Last year, Matthew turned in the Eagle Scout award he earned in 1993 because of Scouting's anti-gay policies, his father said.

In September, Richard Guglielmetti resigned from Scouting. He had been serving the Matianuck District in north central Connecticut as the chairman responsible for giving Eagle Scout candidates their review boards.